Rafiki
: “''You follow ol' Rafiki! He knows the way!” : ―Rafiki to Simba '''Rafiki' is a mandrill who is a supporting character in Disney's 1994 animated feature film The Lion King. Background It is revealed in the storybook A Tale of Two Brothers that Rafiki wasn't always a resident of the Pride Lands. Years before Simba and Mufasa's reign, Rafiki was a traveler studying the African lands who eventually stumbled upon the Pride Lands, where he was attacked by a young Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. The mandrill was saved by Ahadi, the former ruler of the Pride Lands and father of Mufasa and Scar(then known as Taka). Eventually taking residence in the vast lands, Rafiki would soon become close companions with Mufasa and one day overheard Taka's plot to sabotage his brother's reputation, only to be foiled by the mandrill. The end results in Taka falling injured, with Rafiki using his abilities to tend to his wounds and heal him, though one mark remains on the lion's body - his scar, thus becoming the dangerously-envious Prince Scar. Rafiki's heroic performance throughout the event lead to Ahadi requesting that the mandrill serve as adviser to all future kings, which Rafiki accepts. By the time of The Lion King, Rafiki lives in an ancient baobab tree, where he regularly performs shamanistic activities. Personality Rafiki is extremely sagacious and wise. His way of exploiting his intelligence, however, is highly irregular; he prefers to teach his pupils (such as Simba) by bombarding them with cryptic metaphors, and typically in a way that purposely annoys them. He takes great joy in this, and although unconventional, the methods of his teaching have proven to be effective time and time again. It should be noted that part of the reason Rafiki's teachings are rather eccentric is the fact that Rafiki, himself, is fairly eccentric. He is excitable, energetic in spite of his age, and tends to fall into fits of hysterical laughter when something amuses him. He also tends to speak in third person when speaking of himself. Nevertheless, much as his reputation would conceive, Rafiki does have a tamer side. He takes his role as sage of the Pride Lands somberly, and will act diligently to ensure the balance of the "Circle of Life" remains intact. He is also deeply connected to the spiritual world, as he is seen communicating (both professionally and casually) with Mufasa's spirit in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. History The Lion King The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar Rafiki is with Simba and Nala on Pride Rock. After hearing Kion roar, he is certain that it is time for Kion to accept his destiny as Leader of the Lion Guard. Rafiki attempts to persuade Simba into letting Kion in on the Lion Guard's secrets despite Simba's obvious concerns. Rafiki explains it further for Simba, and together they take Kion and Bunga into The Lair of the Lion Guard. After hearing his new duty, Kion leaves, with Rafiki certain that he'll choose the best lions for the job. Rafiki is later seen with Simba, Nala and Tiifu, watching as Kion and the new Lion Guard take down the hyenas and save Kiara. Once again, he knows that it is time, and this time, Simba agrees. Rafiki's character often serves as the visual narrator of the story of The Lion King. He is shown to be a dear friend toMufasa. He presents newborn cubs to all the animals gathered at Pride Rock, and draws a stylized lion cub on the walls of his treehouse home to represent Simba's birth. When Simba runs away and his family believes him dead, Rafiki draws his paw across the Simba drawing, obscuring it in grief. Later, after picking up Simba's scent in the dust and pollen in the air, Rafiki determines that Simba is still alive and restores the drawing, adding the full mane of an adult lion as a sign to seek out this young deliverer from Scar's tyranny. Journeying to the jungle where Simba lives with Timon and Pumbaa, Rafiki observes Simba and recognizes, at least in principle, that he is suffering from a ponderous emotional burden. To treat it, he approaches the young lion and teaches him a few playful (and sometimes painful) lessons about learning from the past, not running from it. He also points out that the spirit and values of Simba's late father Mufasa continue to live in Simba himself. During this scene, Rafiki incessantly repeats the Swahili phrase "Asante sana, squash banana, we we nugu, mi mi apana", which roughly translates to "Thank you very much, squash banana, you are a baboon, and I am not." When Simba decides to return to Pride Rock and fight Scar for the kingship, Rafiki accompanies him, demonstrating his kung fu skills in battle against the hyenas ans saves him from a hyena who tried to attack him by bashing the hyena in head hard with his stick. At the end of the film, Rafiki raises Simba and Nala's new-born cub atop Pride Rock for everyone to see, echoing the beginning of the film. Judging by their meeting at Timon and Pumbaa's home, it would seem that Simba had not met Rafiki before that point or at the very least does not remember him. The Lion King II: Simba's Pride In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Rafiki is more closely involved with the affairs and politics of the prides and is often seen with the lions. When the balance of the Circle of life is thrown off on account of the rivalry between Simba's pride, and Zira (a rogue lioness who along with her children and several other lionesses, was banished from The Pride Lands for being loyal to Scar), Mufasa's spirit persuades Rafiki to bring Simba's daughter Kiara and Zira's son Kovu together as a way of uniting the prides. He then asks if Mufasa is crazy and doubts that the plan will work, and is then immediately buffeted by a strong gust of wind from Mufasa's spirit, immediately convincing the mandrill to carry out the deceased king's idea. From that point, Rafiki assists Kovu (who apparently hopes of joining Simba's pride) in earning Simba's trust, and eventually tries to have the male lion and Kiara fall in love by singing to them about a place called "Upendi", which means "love" in Swahili. However, it is soon revealed that Kovu was working for Zira to kill Simba, and although he tried to abolish the plot on account of his love for Kiara, Simba exiles Kovu, blaming him for the attack. Rafiki sighs sadly on seeing Kovu leave, knowing he is not part of the attack and Simba is defying his father's goals, which completely failed and leaves the Circle of Life broken. In the end, however, after Kovu proves his worth and works with Kiara to fix the broken circle, Rafiki blesses the union of Kovu and Kiara, and celebrates the newfound unity between the pride The Lion King 1½ Rafiki appears briefly in the midquel The Lion King 1½, and is referred to by Timon simply as "The Monkey". He is first seen briefly after Timon leaves his meerkat colony in search of a better life away from predators and free of tunnel digging. After explaining this to Rafiki, the mandrill openly realizes Timon seeks "Hakuna Matata", meaning "No worries", and thus introduces the meerkat to the problem-free philosophy. Rafiki then explains that, in order to find Hakuna Matata, one must look beyond what they see, setting Timon's journey in motion. Later on, Rafiki is seen speaking with Timon's mother about his meeting with her son. Believing Rafiki sent Timon out to find a life nonexistent, resulting in him finding danger, instead, Ma scolds the mandrill and heads out to find Timon with her uncle, Max. Years later, Rafiki is seen visiting Timon at the latter's jungle oasis, where he (somewhat) enlightens Timon on what it is to be a true friend and the true power of Hakuna Matata. During the film's finale, Rafiki is lastly seen attending the theater viewing of the film, alongside the other characters from the film, as well as a large amount of Disney characters. Timon and Pumbaa Rafiki appears in a few episodes of the Timon and Pumbaa TV series and also has his own series of episodes called "Rafiki Fables" in the same show. In the episode "Rafiki's Apprentice", Rafiki is shown to have a nephew named Nefu and, at the same time, Rafiki is portrayed as being a sorcerer/shaman and his walking stick is his magic staff, which Nefu messes with and ends up causing trouble (a plot somewhat similar to The Sorcerer's Apprentice). He makes occasional appearances outside of his own stories in Timon and Pumbaa's stories, acting as a therapist during times of stress within their friendship. It is also shown that Rafiki can grant wishes (or as he calls them, "Rafiki Wishes", with his policy being only one wish per animal) and can also take back wishes as well. Trivia * No one in any of the films, other than himself, refers to Rafiki by his name. They either call him the "monkey" or the "baboon." His name is only used in Timon and Pumbaa and The Lion Guard. * Rafiki's species, the mandrill, is one of the few species that aren't native to Sub-Saharan Africa. While other baboons do, the mandrill is native to the central African rainforest. ** Rafiki is drawn with a pronounced tail, a contrast to the more diminished tails of real mandrills. * In the earliest drafts of The Lion King, Rafiki was not a baboon, but a cheetah instead. Instead, Scar was a baboon. * In the The Lion King 1½, he knows Timon and Pumbaa, ignoring the fact they didnt know who he was when first seeing him in the jungle with Nala. * The song Rafiki sings to himself, "Asante sana, squash banana, we we nugu, mi mi apana," is Swahili for "Thank you very much, squash banana, you are a baboon and I am not." * According to Robert Guillaume, Rafiki's voice was partially created via a failed attempt at a Jamaican accent.1 * In D3: The Mighty Ducks, the giant stuffed baboon that a child wins at a carnival bears a striking resemblance to Rafiki. Category:Characters Category:The Lion King Characters Category:The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Characters Category:The Lion King 1½ Characters Category:The Lion Guard Characters Category:The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar Characters